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Mstiller · Mar 26, 2007, 12:06 PM

Every month I pay my rent on time.. March 2007 I withheld my rent due to several repairs that remain undone. January 15, 2007 the garage was broken in to and my property was stolen, I have renter's insurance but since I have a $500 deductible, did not put the claim in with my insurance company. To date the garage doors are not secure, the tub has been leaking since July 2006, the shower wall around the head is crumbling, mold has grown around the shower walls, there was a leak from an air conditioner August 2006 and the walls are yellow, and messy.. so with all of this in mind, I became frustrated and refused to pay my rent.. I sent digital pictures of all the repairs that need to be done, the real estate company (who works for the landlord) had a plumber come and take a look at what needs to be done, but no work has been done to date (March 26, 2007). Today the real estate company called my office asking when I was paying the rent.. I stated as soon as I can get the repairs done.. and she proceeded to say that she sympathize with me, but the rent still needs to be paid.. I told her that I was NOT paying until the repairs were completed. NOW am I in the wrong for not paying my rent??

HELP!

Squiffy · Mar 26, 2007, 12:08 PM

Yes you are, you are not allowed to just stop paying your rent, you will be evicted. The law is on the landlords side. You need to set up an account to pay the rent to with the courts, so that you are making the payments, even if your landlord doesn't receive the money straight away, I have heard people talking about them on here before. Think they are called ESCROW accounts.

Lowtax4eva · Mar 26, 2007, 12:10 PM

All that is definitely a good case to withhold rent but you can't just not pay. You need to have a third party hold the funds and send a letter stating you want the repairs done before they can receive the funds. This is best left to a lawyer, I think the term is that the funds are held in escrow but I'm not a lawyer, I have heard this many times though.

Where do you live though, the above was for the US, in Canada there are provincial government agencies that deal with renting. You can send them your rent money and they will hold it.

Mstiller · Mar 26, 2007, 02:51 PM

Thanks for the info.. I live in Delaware County (Pennsylvania).. what I actually did was send a letter along with the pictures of the repairs, stating in the letter that I was withholding the rent under the advisement of the Delaware County Tenant Group.. hate so say but it is no such thing.. just wanted to get the work done.

Again, thanks!

Mstiller · Mar 26, 2007, 02:56 PM

So what am I to do... I have one letter that is dated 2004 asking to have specific repairs done... and it's now 2007 and to no avail.. and still have continued to pay my rent on time.. I am just fed up with the foolishness of the slumlord who has the real estate company collecting the rent so he doesn't have to deal with the tenants.. fine and well.. I guess I need to seek advice from a lawyer? Additionally the shared front door has no lock, and after the 01/15/07 incident the "maintenance man/handyman" stated that he would put a lock on the door no later than Tuesday.. well Tuesday has come and went 15 times.. I explained this to the real estate office, but to no avail...

What do I do??

RubyPitbull · Mar 26, 2007, 03:41 PM

Mstiller, please be patient if you can. The legal experts stop by when they can. They will give you direction as to how to proceed. Some stop by every day at some point. Others, a couple of times a week.

Right now, the best thing you can do for yourself is to read your lease. I believe that it will state quite plainly that you cannot hold rent for any reason. Unless you want to be evicted, you need to pay your rent. Are you in Delaware County in PA, OH, NY, IN? What state do you reside. Can you afford an attorney? If not, we might be able to guide you to a low income legal advisor. Hold rent in escrow? I don't know if that is a solution. You do need to document and keep a running record of every problem and every request you have made to resolve these issues.

Edit to post: reread your posts after seeing excon's response. Oops! Didn't notice the reference to PA. Please look at his advice. He is usually right on target.

excon · Mar 26, 2007, 03:56 PM

Hello M:

The state of PA is revising its website, so I can't find any landlord/tenant law. However, I did pick up this little tidbit:

"§ 250.206. Statement of Escrowed Funds.

Whenever an agency or department certifies that a dwelling is uninhabitable and a tenant elects to pay rent into an escrow account established under the act of January 24, 1966 (1965 P.L. 1534, No. 536; 35 P.S. § 1700-1), referred to as the City Rent Withholding Act, it shall be the duty of the certifying agency or department to submit a monthly statement of escrowed funds to the landlord affected by first class mail."

The above makes reference to the term "habitable", and it appears that you yourself cannot make that determination. Therefore, you need some city agency to document the inhabitability of your apartment. In my view, then and only then, can you withhold rent from the landlord and deposit it in escrow.

excon